FALL RIVER — A Level 3 sex offender, who was already on probation in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is now accused of exposing himself to a young girl in Westport.

A lawyer said Robert K. Assad, 37, of 25 Borden St., Westport, denies the allegations against him, which came to light during a recent investigation by the Westport Police Department and the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

The alleged victim, 5, told investigators during a recent interview that Assad, a registered Level 3 sex offender, exposed himself while changing in front of her last year at his home. The girl also said Assad asked her to touch him, according to bail arguments made Wednesday in Fall River District Court.

Assad, who is charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, subsequent offense, was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail. Judge Robert Welsh III, who said the high bail was "warranted" given Assad's long criminal record, also granted a Probation Department request to detain Assad, who is on probation out of Taunton District Court for a February 2013 conviction for indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

In the Taunton case, Assad was sentenced to serve 14 months of a 2½-year jail sentence, with the balance suspended for five years, prosecutors said.

Assistant District Attorney Megan Burns said Assad is also on probation out of Rhode Island for a March 2011 Tiverton case in which he was arrested and charged with fondling a 12-year-old girl. The Bristol County Superior Court Probation Department has been supervising Assad for Rhode Island authorities.

In 1993, Assad was convicted of rape and abuse of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, according to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. Assad is classified as a Level 3 sex offender, the designation given individuals considered the most likely to reoffend.

Assad also served five years in state prison for a 2001 arson conviction in Bristol County. Prosecutors said Assad's criminal record includes arrests for failing to register as a sex offender and missing court hearings.

Defense attorney Nicholas Athanassiou, who requested a $25,000 cash bail, said Assad has deep ties to the community. Assad grew up in Westport, graduating from Westport High School in 1995 and working for several years as a mechanic. He is also the father of a 15-year-old boy and has family in the area.

Assad waived his Miranda rights and spoke with Westport police detectives after he was arrested on Wednesday morning in Seekonk. Assad repeatedly denied the allegations, said Athanassiou, who noted that a second girl who Assad was said to have been alone with told investigators that nothing ever happened to her.

According to the terms of his probation, Assad is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors.

The Westport and Seekonk police departments, after initially having difficulty finding him, used Assad's GPS monitoring bracelet to track him to the Shangri-La Motel in Seekonk. However, when police officers arrived, Assad had just left his room, prosecutors said.

Page 2 of 2 - The police officers tracked the GPS to a nearby parking lot behind Sam's Club, approximately 500 yards from the motel, where they found Assad and took him into custody. Prosecutors said Assad told officers at the scene that he was trying to evade the police because he did not want to get arrested.

The Westport Police Department said Assad failed to meet with detectives investigating the charges. On Wednesday morning, before they obtained his GPS information from Fall River District Court Probation Officer Mark Costa, detectives unsuccessfully tried meeting Assad at his Westport residence.

The Fall River Police Department's Major Crimes Division also assisted in the investigation. Assad is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 14 for a pretrial hearing. Prosecutors said they expect a grand jury to indict Assad, which would transfer his case to superior court, where serious felonies are adjudicated.